Come Follow Me LDS- Hebrews 1-6 Chaps 4-6, New Testament

'Actors, Roles & Drama'
- Joseph Smith was right
- Jesus, like Abraham, takes the role of the Throne Bearer
- The Melchizedek King tradition is about Jesus Christ

Come Follow Me

LDS Mormon New Testament Hebrews Bible

all right so then in Chapter five we go

to verse one here says for every high

priest taken from among men is ordained

or appointed ordained we use the term

ordained for men in these in things

pertaining to God

so Melchizedek Priesthood right again

the ironic priesthood is for temporal

things the Melchizedek Priesthood is for

the things of God or spiritual things

that he may offer both gifts and

sacrifices for sins but sure but we

could be talking about the Melchizedek

priesthood being able to function well

as both with the gifts which would be

healing and things from the Melchizedek

priesthood in those ordinances and

sacrifices for sin which might be things

that would be more from the ironic

priesthood and in verse four we have

something that we understand in the LDS

Church about priesthood and authority it

says and no man taketh this honor unto

himself but he that is called of God as

was Aaron would go back to Leviticus and

get an outline of how Aaron was called

and we have that understanding that you

have to be called of God and that comes

through priesthood authority that

doesn't just come through hey I think I

ought to do this that's how most of the

Christian world operates that hey I was

called to do this because I felt that

need we don't deny revelation or

personal revelation but we do believe

that for the Offices of priesthood and

for leading in congregation etc that you

have to have the laying on of hands and

that you have to have a direct line of

priesthood authority for that and then

in verse 5 we get another nugget here

about the son of God it says so also

Christ glorified not himself to be made

and high priest but he that said unto

Him thou art my son today I have

begotten thee

so this is a reference back to Psalm 2:7

again talking about a begotten son this

is about the temple drama this is about

the temple that's what the Psalms are

about and here just like in Psalm 110 we

have here a reference to thou art my son

today I have begotten thee this is a

function of the drama this is Jesus

stepping into that role in us

understanding that that's who he is

the Mallick isn't a king and in verse 6

as he saith also in another place this

is in Psalm 110 thou art a priest

forever after the order of Melchizedek

now sometimes even within LDS

scholarship I think we get this idea

that the reason it's forever is because

Jesus doesn't have a lineage of

priesthood which I don't know if that's

true or not I mean was he not ordained

did he not need to be ordained I don't

know if there's been something that has

been stated about that by Joseph Smith

Brigham Young or another

president of the Church of the Prophet

that would be considered doctrine but

that's not what it means what it means

is that see the Aaronic priesthood only

came through lineage you had to be a

Levite to be able to have the priesthood

and you had to be specifically a son of

Aaron a descendant of Aaron Aaron was a

Levite so as Moses you had to be a

descendant of Aaron to be a full-fledged

priest so we're getting a distinction

here from the author saying no the

Melchizedek Priesthood does not come

through lineage that would be a temporal

thing the Melchizedek priesthood is about

eternal things about spiritual things so

you're a priest forever with this or you

are an eternal priest so to speak and

then in 7 & 8 something very interesting

happens and this is this is so rich for

temple imagery and drama right here some

LDS scholars that I've read will they'll

bring up that shows us Smith talks about

this differently verses 7 and 8

but they still talk about this as being

Christ and it kind of sounds like it is

but there's a really important reason to

know that the seven and eight do not

refer to Christ so let's read these two

verses here real quick and see who this

should be or who it sounds like first

seven who in the days of his flesh when

he had offered up prayers and

supplications with strong crying and

tears unto him that was able to save him

from death and was heard in that he

feared or he was heard because he

reverenced God he humbled himself he

respected God verse eight though he were

a son yet learned he obedience by the

things which he suffered so just as we

had just heard about Jesus was tempted

and it was important that that was

stated in the last chapter and the

author wanted us to understand that that

he was tempted and that he can succor us

because he knows what we're going

through but this is not about Jesus

Joseph Smith and the Joseph Smith

translation puts a parentheses on these

two verses and says this is Melchizedek

and here's why that's important if we

read through this and understand that

what they're talking about here they

refer to the son or a son first aid

though he were a son he obeyed he

suffered he cried with his prayer so

what are we talking about we're talking

about Melchizedek and the citizens of

Salem and him being a king and the

reason is under it's important to

understand that is because again this is

about the temple drama built around the

tradition of Melchizedek and Jesus

stepping into that role sitting on that

Melchizedek Davidic King throne he's

playing he's fitting into that role

he is that role but he's fitting into

the role of the drama here as the Moloch

is it a king

so we know from other writings that

Melchizedek took a wicked City which was

Salem and helped convert all of them

through his prayers his supplication his

priesthood power and we're told there

was no greater than Melchizedek no

greater faith than Melchizedek and so he

supplicated and he prayed and he

suffered for the citizens of Salem which

is Jerusalem before it was Jerusalem and

he was called a son right because he sat

on the throne of God because of the

temple drama that's what this is all

built around so no it's not Christ and

you don't have to make it be Christ here

I would probably follow Joseph Smith

here and say look this is about the role

of the Melchizedek king who in the drama

is the servant and he suffers for

everyone around him just like King

Benjamin that is exactly what that is

referring to in the Book of Mormon it's

exactly what it's referring to he is the

servant of those around him we talked

about how he was a great king because he

served his people well understand that's

a ritual he probably did but we're

talking about ritual here with King

Benjamin I don't think there's any doubt

of that that's how I see it so 7

& 8 refer to Melchizedek / Joseph Smith

okay so in verse 9 then it say this is

where many people think well this has to

be Christ right it has to be because

here verse 9 says and being made perfect

he became the author of eternal

salvation unto all them that obey Him

well that's certainly Christ but if the

king is becomes the son and is the

begotten one and is sitting on the

throne of God and comes through the veil

well he's also acting as Jehovah that is

Jesus Christ so in verse 9 all this is

is a continuation of that role so you're

seeing this mixture here

of again facsimile three who's being

placed in as Osiris and sitting on the

throne of God well in this case its

Christ himself that would go in and fit

into that role but he's fitting into a

role under a tradition of Melchizedek so

I hope that I'm explaining that properly

so you understand that the tradition

is built primarily on Jesus Christ and

who he is but the Melchizedek Davidic

kings including Melchizedek through a

temple drama acted as Jehovah and the

temple king but they acted also as

Jehovah as who we know of as Jesus

Christ and so Joseph Smith showing us

this here to me is a perfect example of

the drama of Temple imagery and drama it

looks like it has to be Christ well in a

sense it is it's the role of Christ but

that role is coming through a long

tradition of a Melchizedek and Davidic

King who's acted as Jesus Christ were

acted as Jehovah verse 10 called of God

and high priest after the order of

Melchizedek so we can see this all kind

of fitting together here and then in

chapter 6 we have here starting in verse

1 therefore leaving the principles of

the doctrine of Christ let us go on unto

perfection now Joseph Smith says not

leaving the principles of the doctrine

of Christ let us go on unto perfection

perfection is moving on through the veil

into the holy of Holy's into his rest

not laying again the foundation of

repentance and dead works and faith

toward God so we're not backing up into

going back into the repentance and dead

works what we're doing here is we're

talking again about hey this is what the

Melchizedek and Davidic King did they

went through the veil they were begotten

of God they were became sons and our

daughters of God which is a title

and moved into perfection by sitting on

the throne of God they went into

exaltation and going down to verse 12

then we hear that ye be not slothful but

followers of them who through faith and

patience inherit the promises again the

promises the oath the rest God's rest is

all the same thing right and here again

we have the coupling of faith pistis

with the promises so having that faith

in Jesus Christ is what brings us to the

promises or to the promised land and

then we get basically the oath and

covenant of the priests of the promise

right here same things we're gonna see

in section 84 more or less starting in

13 for when God made promise to Abraham

because he could swear by no greater he

swore by himself saying surely blessing

I will bless thee and multiplying I will

multiply thee and so after he had

patiently endured gone through all the

works during that time not having Isaac

for that a very long time he obtained

the promise so we went through the works

he went through the trials he went

through the tribulations he made the

right decisions he retained his faith in

Christ

essentially in Jehovah and then was

blessed with the promise verse 16 and an

oath for confirmation is to them an

end of all strife the ironic priesthood

does not come with an oath or a promise

right that's understood right we have

it's like those wandering in the

wilderness there is no promise there's

no oath the oath is not from us the oath

is from our Heavenly Father and that

oath is the promise that oath is

exaltation and this is all about that

it's about the higher priesthood which

opens up the veil for us and allows us

to go into exaltation into the Holy of

Holies 17 wearing God willing more

abundantly to shew unto the heirs of

promise the immutability of his counsel

confirmed it by an oath he swears

to us he swears to us essentially an

oath that says I will do everything to

give you this opportunity to bless you

with this to be able to come back to me

and to share in the inheritance of all

that I have to be co-heirs with Christ

who is perfect the lower law does not

have that the law of Moses does not have

that only the monistic priest of the

Melchizedek law the higher law the oath

and covenant gives us that and then

something very interesting here that I

think we should understand we hear about

the what I call an attribute progression

of hope our faith hope and charity here

we've been talking about faith is

connected to the promise to exaltation

the faith in Jesus Christ and now here

we get hope tied to the Melchizedek

Priesthood as well it says here in 18

that by two immutable things in which it

is it was impossible for God to lie we

might have a strong consolation who have

fled for refuge to lay hold upon the

hope that is set before us so in other

words hope is given to us because of the

promise the hope is in what Jesus Christ

provided the promise the oath of God

that we can have everything that we can

be co-heirs that we can be like him

that's what the hope is and the only way

we get that is first to have faith in

Jesus Christ and what he did if we do

that then we understand we can then move

to Hope which gives us a different life

it gives us a different view on

everything a hope of where we can go to

his rest back to the holy of holies back

to God to exaltation and that hope is

obviously future to us as we travel

through the works

the first six days until we can get into

that seventh day but having that hope

changes our entire lives it changes the

way we live it can change our priorities

it changes our spirit I believe so hope

is crucial and it is not the same as

faith hope requires faith in Jesus

Christ a true hope and faith in Jesus

Christ begets hope 19 which hope we have

as an anchor of the soul both sure and

steadfast and which entereth into that

within the fail there it is whether the

forerunner is for us entered even Jesus

he's the forerunner the first to do it

remember when he died and had not

resurrected yet but had borne all the

sins of the world and died what happened

to the veil of the temple in the Gospels

we see that either we show that his side

was pierced with a spear which would be

his flesh as the veil or we directly see

that the veil was rent why because he

was the forerunner he went through it

and he opened up the veil for all of us

to enter into his rest for all of us to

have the promise the door is wide open

for us so to speak if we choose to go

through the works the first six days to

end up in the seventh so again twenty

whether the forerunner is for us entered

even Jesus made and high priest forever

after the order of Melchizedek I'll talk

to you next time